Ed Lee working on his legacy: return of Warriors

S.F. POLITICS

Updated 4:51 pm, Thursday, February 14, 2013

Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press

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From left, Golden State Warriors owner and CEO Joe Lacob, NBA Commissioner David Stern, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Warriors owner Peter Guber hold up 2017 jerseys following an announcement Tuesday, May 22, 2012, in San Francisco, that the NBA basketball team wants to build a new arena on the waterfront in San Francisco. The Warriors unveiled plans to build an arena at Piers 30-32. The waterfront site is just blocks from the San Francisco Giants' ballpark and the downtown financial district. The arena is expected to be completed by 2017. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) less

From left, Golden State Warriors owner and CEO Joe Lacob, NBA Commissioner David Stern, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Warriors owner Peter Guber hold up 2017 jerseys following an announcement Tuesday, May 22, ... more

Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press

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(l to r) NBA commissioner, David Stern, and Golden State Warriors basketball team executives, Rick Welts, Peter Guber, Joe Lacob, listen to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, as plans were officially annonunced, on Tuesday May 22, 2012, in San Francisco,Ca., to build a new arena on Piers 30 and 32 in time for the start of the 2017-2018 NBA season. less

(l to r) NBA commissioner, David Stern, and Golden State Warriors basketball team executives, Rick Welts, Peter Guber, Joe Lacob, listen to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, as plans were officially annonunced, on ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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An artist rendering of the new arena, as San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Golden State Warriors basketball team executives officially announced plans, on Tuesday May 22, 2012, in San Francisco,Ca., to build a new arena on Piers 30 and 32 in time for the start of the 2017-2018 NBA season. less

An artist rendering of the new arena, as San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Golden State Warriors basketball team executives officially announced plans, on Tuesday May 22, 2012, in San Francisco,Ca., to build a new ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Ed Lee working on his legacy: return of Warriors

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San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, fresh off a bitterly fought November election win, soon realized he had "inherited some really huge problems."

Among them, the city's storied football franchise, the five-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers, were leaving town for Silicon Valley, and Lee couldn't stop them.

"My gut feeling, I was really kind of almost crying about the 49ers," Lee recalled recently. "I kind of looked myself in the mirror and talked to some friends and said, 'Am I going to let this thing eat at me? Am I going to be the downer mayor?' I told myself, 'No way.' "

Almost seven months later, Lee has what he calls "my legacy project" - a handshake deal with the owners of the Golden State Warriors to build a privately financed, state-of-the-art arena along San Francisco's central waterfront and return the basketball franchise to the city they called home from 1962 to 1971.

If the Warriors succeed in opening an arena on Piers 30-32 in time for the 2017 season - and Lee wins re-election in 2015 - the mayor will have the rare opportunity to both start a major project and cut the ribbon on its grand opening while still in office.

Accomplishing that would probably define Lee's legacy as the city's first Asian American mayor and the man who brought a basketball team and an arena to a city that had neither, City Hall watchers said.

"I believe that every big-city mayor subscribes to the theory that if you have a big civic building that a lot of people go to, you can point to that as one of the cornerstones of your legacy," said Alex Clemens, a political consultant and lobbyist in San Francisco.

"This is a multiyear project, it's about a sports team, which is always popular, and it's in a part of San Francisco that is extraordinarily visible," Clemens said. "I'm not saying the stars have aligned, but I wouldn't argue with someone who did."

Making a mark

Most San Francisco mayors, if remembered at all, are remembered for one or two major accomplishments. Joe Alioto remade the skyline, Dianne Feinstein stabilized the city after the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk and saved the cable cars. Art Agnos tore down the Embarcadero Freeway, and Willie Brown restored City Hall and the Ferry Building and helped shepherd the construction of the Giants' ballpark.

Lee, so far, is known for little beyond changing the tenor at City Hall, his effort to oust Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from office over a domestic violence incident, and pushing his "jobs, jobs, jobs" agenda, including his embrace of technology companies.

Twitter tax break

The most prominent embodiment of that is the Twitter tax break, which was designed to keep the growing microblogging company from leaving the city and to enliven the downtrodden Mid-Market and Tenderloin area.

But even that idea sprouted in the administration of Lee's predecessor, now-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who helped orchestrate Lee's appointment to the final year of his term in January 2011 after Newsom left the mayor's office early for Sacramento.

"Coming in as an interim mayor, he inherited a lot of projects midstream," she said. "This is such a prominent project that is solely his - it will have his mark. There's something incredibly inspiring about starting something from scratch."

It's a great piece of news for a mayor who had been buffeted by a string of setbacks, including the 49ers officially moving to Santa Clara, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison pulling out of an America's Cup regatta deal to redevelop the same piers the Warriors are now eyeing and Salesforce.com shelving its plan to expand at Mission Bay.

Lee admits the failed deal with Ellison was "a stinger."

"We didn't like the feeling," he said.

But less than six months into his first four-year term and without any part of the Warriors deal committed to paper, is Lee using that big word - legacy - too early?

'So full of himself'

"I laughed when I read that. That's the ultimate politician - so full of himself," said Quentin Kopp, a former city supervisor and retired San Mateo County judge who worked on the successful Giants' ballpark ballot measure.

"I think it's a little premature," said Jim Ross, a political consultant experienced with waterfront development projects, including the ballot measure to approve what is now AT&T Park and a failed bid to build a cruise ship terminal.

But he added that it makes sense for Lee to think about his legacy. Unlike the much younger Newsom, who aspires to be governor, Lee, 60, is likely nearing the end of his career.

"When you're in your last job, you start thinking about what am I going to leave behind," he said.

Political consultant Mark Mosher pointed to the fact that the Warriors plan to privately finance the arena is a plus for how Lee will be remembered.

"I think we've seen from places around the bay and around the country that publicly financed stadiums can often wind up being a legacy for mayors - and not a positive one," he said.

Despite the early invoking of the term "legacy," the Warriors are still in Oakland, and Lee isn't ready to take a victory lap yet.

"We're still going to have a lot of bumps in the road," he said, "and we're prepared for that."

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